


Derek's Date

by dementorsatemysoup



Series: Daddy Derek [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Allison Is Still Derek's Daughter, Also Allison Approves Of Derek Dating Stiles, Alternate Universe - Human, Because He Secretly Likes Him, But Doesn't Really Know Yet, Daddy Derek, Derek Goes On A Very Brief Date With Jennifer, F/M, Gen, He Talks About Stiles Most Of The Night, It Doesn't Quite Work Out, M/M, Oblivious Derek, Pre-Slash, So Does Laura, an attempt at humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-08
Updated: 2014-04-08
Packaged: 2018-01-18 14:51:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1432513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dementorsatemysoup/pseuds/dementorsatemysoup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek has his first date since Kate left him... and it's not with who Allison and Laura suspect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Derek's Date

**Author's Note:**

> Um, I don't really ship Dennifer (I liked Jennifer better when she was revealed to be the Darach because it gave her character more depth than "love interest." Also the entire relationship was based on manipulation and secrecy so...), but I did try to make her a hell of a lot nicer in this story than she turned out to be in the show.
> 
> Anyway, thanks to everyone who read the last story, I am glad you enjoyed it, and please leave me a comment if you can.
> 
> I still don't own these characters.  
> Bye!!!

Derek worked at the local library. It wasn't his idea of a dream career or anything. He had, in fact, been studying to be a teacher before he dropped out of college, but a job's a job, and if it kept himself and Allison out of Laura's house, he wasn't about to complain.

He usually put the returned books away, sometimes fixed things for the head librarian, Mrs. Hudson, when she asked him to, and generally showed the patrons where they could find their books if they needed help. A few times, if Kira couldn't make it in to read to the pre-schoolers, Mrs. Hudson asked Derek to do it. That's where he met Jennifer.

Jennifer Blake had a three year old named Matt, whom she shared custody with her ex Duke. Derek had never met this elusive Duke, but the way Jennifer talked about him it seemed like he already knew him. It's obvious, even to him, that Jennifer still loved Duke, but at the same time, held a bitter resentment for the man for leaving her for some gym coach named Ennis.

Derek liked Jennifer, thought maybe she could be a good friend, but when she brought up the prospect of going on a date he found himself hesitating. He hadn't dated anyone in a very long time, not since Kate left him, and despite Laura's attempts to get him a girlfriend, he still found himself watching movies with Allison on Friday nights. So his dating skills were a bit rusty. Also he couldn't help thinking about how Stiles would feel if he accepted a date with Jennifer. Which was a bit odd, but he didn't spend too much time on that bit.

He told Jennifer he'd think about it, and she gave him her number, collecting Matt and leaving the library. After work, Derek drove to Laura's place, finding his sister sitting on her front porch with Nick, her feet in his lap, watching Allison chase Isaac around the yard.

Derek dodged the two kids, heading up the steps, taking a seat on the top step. He leaned forward, elbows resting on his thighs, and said, "I got asked on a date today."

"No shit," Laura replied sounding surprised. "When's the nuptials?"

She smirked when he threw a glare at her, and he grumbled, "I told her I'd think about it."

"Wait, her?" Laura's eyebrows raised in surprise. "I thought…" she trailed off, clearing her throat, and asked, "What's this woman's name?"

"You thought what?" Derek gave his sister a questioning look, but she just shook her head, shrugging. Deciding it wasn't worth it, Derek said, "Jennifer Blake. She brings her son to the library during weekly story time, we've been talking for a few weeks."

"Jennifer Blake?" Laura looked over at Nick, raising an eyebrow. "She sounds familiar."

"New English teacher," Nick supplied glancing down at Derek. "She's been in town for a few months. She replaced that guy," he looked back at Laura, "you know the one, whose twin is married to Danny Mahealani."

"Ethan has a twin?" Laura made an 'hm' sound and said, "All I remember is that the old English teacher got into a fight with Jackson Whittemore out front of the high school. It made the first page of the Beacon Hills Gazette."

"Isn't that the story Stiles covered?" Nick asked curiously.

"Well, Stiles  _is_  the editor," Laura reminded Nick

Derek's interests piqued tenfold at the mention of Stiles. He knew Stiles worked for the Gazette, but he didn't know the guy was the editor. The way he described his job made it sound like he just wrote a few of the pieces. The saying was true, he really did learn something new every day.

"So, are you going to go on this date?" Laura asked finally returning to their original topic. Derek had long since given up trying to keep his sister and her husband on topic; they would usually get back to it eventually. Unlike Stiles who seemed to forget the topic all together most of the time.

"Uh, I don't know…" Derek shrugged, picking a dead leaf up, rolling it between his fingers.

"Why? Holding out for someone else?" Laura waggled her eyebrows suggestively when Derek looked back at her, and he frowned, confused. "Oh come on," she scoffed throwing her hands in the air. "Whatever," she grumbled shaking her head. "Why, my dear, grumpy, oblivious, baby brother, did you not say yes?"

"Are you mocking me?" Laura shrugged, obviously not going to say anything, and Derek sighed heavily, looking back at Allison. "I just, I don't want…"

"Oh come on." Laura swung herself around, getting to her feet, and stomped down the stairs. She moved towards Allison, halting hers and Isaac's game, and asked her something. Derek watched as Allison's eyes widened for a moment before she nodded vigorously, grinning Derek's way.

Laura led Allison towards her father. She gestured to the small girl, her eyes meeting Derek's. "Ask her."

Derek sighed heavily, but still looked at Allison. "Bug, would it be okay if Daddy went out with a friend?"

"Like a date?" Allison asked in a sing song voice, her grin widening, swinging her body back and forth.

"Uh, yeah, like a date," Derek replied nodding.

"Is it with Mr. Stiles?"

"Uh, no." Where had that come from? "W-why would it be with Mr. Stiles?" Derek spared a glance at Laura, who seemed to find her nails to be very interesting, trying to hide the smug look on her face.

Allison frowned. "Why not Mr. Stiles?"

"Her name's Jennifer," Derek stated ignoring Allison's question, and the way his heart skipped a beat at the mere mention of dating Stiles. "She's very nice. I think you'll like her."

"Uh-huh," Allison retorted skeptical, glancing over her shoulder at Isaac. "I've gotta go back to playing, Daddy." She turned and ran back towards her cousin, whispering something in his ear. He shook his head, quietly saying something back, and she scoffed, threw her hands in the air, and said, "Let's play hide and seek then."

"Well, Der, she approves, so tell this Jennifer Blake that you'll go on a date with her," Laura said already heading back up the porch steps, taking a seat in Nick's lap. "Maybe we can double sometime." She shared a glance with Nick, and he shrugged, running a hand down her back.

"Yeah," Derek muttered still not quite sure why Allison thought he and Stiles were going on a date, "maybe."

* * *

Jennifer looked very nice in her light green sundress, making Derek feel a bit under dressed in a blue Henley and a pair of jeans. He even had mud on the bottom of his boots, but he didn't have any shoes other than a pair of tattered looking Chucks, and the attempt to get the mess off the bottom of his shoes at Laura's had been a complete disaster.

He handed Jennifer the daisies Laura had insisted he get, after telling him to compliment Jennifer, but Derek, already very, very nervous, only managed to blurt out, "My friend Stiles bought his daughter a dress a bit like that, but Erica wears her green Converse with it instead of heels."

"I bet she looks cute in it," Jennifer stated with a small smile. "Uh, shall we go?"

"Yeah," Derek said nodding, turning and heading towards his car. He opened the door for Jennifer, figuring it's the least he can do, and waited for her to get inside. As he closed the door, he recounted the time Stiles had somehow managed to close his foot in the door.

"And he did like this flailing move," Derek continued ducking into the driver side, mimicking the move as best as he could, cracking his knuckles into the window. "Ow," he whispered shaking his hand. "I think Stiles even did that, too."

Jennifer offered a half smile, leaning back into her seat, clutching her flowers in her hand. "So, uh, where are we going?" she asked curiously.

"This place Stiles suggested." When Derek had told Stiles about his date, the guy had been quiet for a few minutes too long, something unidentifiable flickering in his eyes. Eventually he smiled and told Derek about Jackson's Bistro, a few blocks away from the record store, owned by a guy who had graduated high school with Stiles. "He said the place had good fries." Jennifer nodded, but didn't say anything, looking out the window.

The silence continued all the way to the bistro, following the couple inside and to their table. As they waited for their waiter, Jennifer asked, "So, what grade is Allison in?"

"Kindergarten," Derek answered looking down at his menu. "She's growing up so fast. She'll be six in three months." Derek looked up, asking, "What about Matt? Is he ready for school?"

"Matty won't be four until June, so he still has a few years," Jennifer replied with a small smile, the same smile Stiles always wore when he talked about Erica, "but he seemed excited when I brought him to the high school the other day."

"Allison went to school with Cora one year," Derek stated with a fond smile, "and she had been so excited when she came home. Kept asking me when she could go to school, and I'd keep saying 'not for another few years, Bug.'"

They shared a smile, finding common ground when it came to their children, and spent a good twenty-five minutes talking about Allison and Matt. But eventually the topic of their kids petered out, and they were back to silence again.

Derek, feeling as if he should probably say something, commented, "So, uh, my sister tells me you've only been in town for a few months."

"Yeah." Jennifer nodded, fiddling with her fork. "Aiden Wilcox asked to be transferred to another school, a few towns over, and they needed a new English teacher. I was bouncing between substituting jobs, so I jumped at the chance to take the job. I love literature and want to share that love with my students."

Derek jumped on that topic, books pretty much the only form of entertainment he had nowadays (if he didn't count cartoons and Disney or Pixar films), and the two spent another twenty-five minutes talking about Vonnegut and Hemingway.

"Stiles likes Bukowski," Derek informed Jennifer, dipping a few fries into some ketchup, "but I never saw the appeal, you know. I mean, sure, he's a good poet, but I'd much rather sit and read a good Plath poem than a Bukowski, you know?"

"Uh-huh," Jennifer mumbled picking at her steak. "So, how long have you known this Stiles guy?"

"What?" Derek looked up from his burger, eyebrows furrowed.

"Have you known this Stiles guy long?"

Derek ran a hand through his hair, thinking, and said, "Um, only a few months. We met Allison's first day of school. She and his daughter Erica are friends, along with his brother Scott. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," she responded evasively, stabbing her fork into her steak. "Are you and this Stiles guy friends or something?"

"Yeah, we're friends," Derek nodded, taking a sip of his coke. "We usually have coffee after we drop the girls and Scott off, and sometimes we'll hang out during the weekends." Since 'defending' Allison's honor, Scott had become a permanent fixture on their morning commute to the grade school. "He's my best friend, actually, which is crazy because I really haven't had a best friend since high school."

Jennifer gave Derek a tight lipped smile, looking down at her plate, and they spent the rest of their dinner with a tense silence between them. Derek had a feeling he fucked up somewhere, but he couldn't be one-hundred percent certain where exactly.

On the drive back to Jennifer's house, Jennifer looked out the window again, tapping her fingers against her green, canvas bag, and the motion reminder Derek of Stiles a bit; the younger guy never quite sitting still, no matter how hard he tried, long, nimble fingers tapping against anything within his reach.

When Derek pulled up to Jennifer's house, he reached for his door handle, ready to get out and walk her to her front door, but she held up a hand, stopping him. "I've got it, okay."

"Okay," he answered softly, letting his hand drop from the handle. "So, uh…"

"Good-bye, Derek," Jennifer said and opened her door, walking away from his car without looking back. The overwhelming urge to apologize attacked Derek, but he didn't know what for exactly, so he just ignored it and threw his car into drive, pulling back into the street.

* * *

Derek unlocked his apartment door, tossing his keys on the kitchen counter when he stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He ran a hand through his hair, kicking his shoes off, and headed towards his couch. He collapsed face first onto it, knowing he should probably get to bed so he could pick Allison up in the morning, but he didn't want to move, the couch way too comfortable.

His phone buzzed, and he groaned, his eyes popping open. Sitting up, Derek pulled it from his pocket, checking the screen. It's a text from Stiles:

_How was your date?_

_Terrible,_  Derek typed back leaning his head back.

His phone rang a moment later and he smiled, answering with a soft, "Yeah?"

" _What do you mean terrible?"_  Stiles asked curiously.

"I'm not exactly sure, but I'm pretty sure we're not going to have another," Derek muttered closing his eyes. "She seemed less and less interested as the night wore on."

" _Maybe you're just an uninteresting person,"_  Stiles teased and Derek snorted, shaking his head. " _Well, you win some, you lose some, right?"_

"Yeah," Derek agreed nodding. "So, what are you doing?"

_"Plotting world domination,"_  Stiles replied just as a male shouted, " _What the fuck Stilinski! Stop talking to your boyfriend and get your ass back in here!"_

" _Shut up, Jackson,"_  Stiles hissed and then he said, " _I-I'm sorry about, uh, about him. He's an asshole."_

"I-it's fine," Derek assured the younger guy, his ears and neck burning. "So, uh, I, uh, I should let you go then."

" _Yeah,"_  Stiles replied and Derek could hear him nod. "See you on the bus Monday."

"Definitely," Derek agreed and the two breathed into the phone for an extra ten seconds before both ended the connection.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, Mrs. Hudson is, in fact, a Sherlock reference.


End file.
